Independent probe into social services ruled out
FIRST Minister Mark Drakeford has ruled out an independent inquiry into social services in Wales, similar to those being carried out in other parts of the UK.
It comes after the death of fiveyear-old Logan Mwangi, who was murdered by his mother, stepfather and a 14-year-old boy despite social services being in contact with the family.
Mr Drakeford told LBC radio: “There will be a serious case review into the events surrounding the tragic death of that child.
“We will wait for that to be completed to see whether there any more general points in it that we will need to draw out on a wider basis.”
Mr Drakeford said he thought it was never “right to rush into something very general from what is a very specific set of circumstances”.
He acknowledged that social work was “under enormous pressure”.
He said those pressures were caused “partly because during the pandemic, social workers were not able to visit and meet children in the way that they normally would have”.
“Now they are having to make up for a backlog of work that they weren’t able to discharge in the normal way. I don’t think we need an inquiry to tell us that,” he added, saying figures and inspections had showed this already.
“If you’re going to divert energy, time, attention and money into an inquiry, you have to be very confident about inquiry would uncover answers that we don’t have already,” he said.
Social work expert Professor Donald Forrester, of Cardiff University, said that in Wales and in the UK there has been “quite a number” of child deaths requiring reviews with the involvement of social services.
He has called for an independent review of all children’s social work – similar to those that are being undertaken in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
He added that Wales is “out of line” in not carrying one out.
In a written answer to a question from Plaid Cymru’s Heledd Fychan on whether the government would commit to a review, Deputy Minister for Social Services Julie Morgan said: “Through our programme for government, we have committed to radically reform services for children who are looked after and care leavers.
“As part of this ambition we will be eliminating profit from the care of looked after children, strengthening corporate parenting responsibilities and funding parental advocacy services across Wales.”
She added: “While our thoughts are with everyone affected by Logan’s death, I do not intend to undertake an independent review of children’s social care. I look forward to the findings from the ongoing child practice review and the planned inspection by Care Inspectorate Wales to identify potential learning from this upsetting case.”
Welsh Conservative social services spokesman Gareth Davies said: “I do not know why the Labour government in Cardiff Bay do not think there is a need for an independent review of children’s services in Wales.
“The other three UK nations are conducting one right now and Wales has the worst rate for looked-after children.”